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Home , Christer Fuglesang, Expedition 18, Expedition 20, Expedition 22, Mission Specialist, Poisk (ISS module)

Racing Through

Mission Specialist moves along an International Space Station truss during the first STS- 114 spacewalk. During this excursion, he and fellow spacewalker Steve Robinson worked on one of the Station’s control moment gyroscopes. Space All article Images Credit: NASA Achievement Reaches a Pinnacle on the International Space Station

By Adam Morgan & Melissa Mathews

magine you’re a NASCAR racer zipping around the racetrack I at 200 miles per hour (mph), but – just to make it more interesting — you are also building your car during the race. That would be a challenge, right?

22 ad Astra Spring 2010 Spring 2010 ad Astra 23 In his 1984 State of the Union speech, U.S. President Ronald Reagan directed NASA to build a permanently-crewed space station. “America has always been greatest when we dared to be great,” he told Congress. “We can reach for greatness again. We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful economic and scientific gain.” He invited international participation.

Russia (then the Soviet Union) began constructing in 1986. It was the world’s first consistently inhabited long-term research station in space. Russia planned to follow the Mir space station with a Mir 2 in the 1990s, while the United States planned to build a station called Freedom – an effort that included partnering with space agencies in Europe, Canada, and Japan. Funding difficulties brought the U.S.-led international team Anchored to a Canadarm2 mobile foot restraint, and the Russians together in 1993 to build a combined station – the , STS-128 , participates in the mission’s second session of (EVA) as construction and International Space Station. maintenance continue on the International Space Station. During the six-hour, 39-minute spacewalk, Fuglesang and NASA astronaut John “Danny” Olivas (out Conceived as an international undertaking from the beginning, the ISS of frame), mission specialist, installed the new Ammonia Tank Assembly on was designed, built, and launched from locations spanning the globe. the Port 1 Truss and stowed the empty tank assembly into the Discovery’s cargo bay. is “one area of human endeavor in which we are indisputably continuing to lead the world,” said U.S. President Bill Clinton Now imagine you’re flying 220 miles above the Earth, traveling at speeds in 1993. Science and technology partnerships, he said, “are the keys to ASA

of 17,500 mph and orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes. But this time, our future as a people, to our standard of living, to our quality of life as well N : you’re building your house at those speeds. Oh yeah, did I mention you’re as to our ability to continue the American tradition of exploring frontiers.”

also living in the house while you’re building it? Now that’s a challenge. redit C Well, that is exactly what has been happening over the past 10 years mage on the International Space Station (ISS). Fifteen nations from five major I space agencies have been working together to design and build what Cosmonaut , flight engineer, participates in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) to perform maintenance on the International Space Station. has been coined “one of the greatest engineering feats of all time.”

Recently recognized by the National Aeronautics Association with To prepare for the project, space shuttles flew to Mir from 1995 to Station work gave us an opportunity to harness that expertise and push the 2009 Collier Trophy “for the design, development, and assembly 1998 with U.S. serving on board the Russian station as ourselves to the next level as an aerospace firm.” of the world’s largest , an orbiting laboratory that promises researchers for as long as six months. new discoveries for mankind and sets new standards for international Boeing also integrates vehicle elements provided by the international cooperation in space,” the ISS is an undertaking in a class by itself. It A Russian Proton rocket launched the first ISS module from Baikonur partners. International partner components include: a Canadian- shatters the mold as an engineering, scientific, management, and Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on November 20, 1998. The module was built 55-foot-long robotic arm and used for diplomatic achievement. a Russian-built and United States-funded unit called . The second assembly and maintenance tasks on the space station; a pressurized module, Unity, was built by the United States and was launched aboard European laboratory called Columbus and logistics transport vehicles; “Nothing this complex has ever been attempted before – plain and NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour from on a Japanese laboratory called Kibo, with an attached exposed exterior simple,” said Joy Bryant, vice president and program manager for December 4, 1998. The two were joined together in orbit. platform for experiments, as well as logistics transport vehicles; Boeing’s International Space Station program. and two Russian research modules, an early living quarters called Innovation has been a key factor in every aspect of the ISS As the largest spacecraft ever built, its “wingspan” is larger than a 747, the Zvezda Service Module with its own life support and habitation Russian cosmonauts and Maxim Suraev (out of frame), both development. Breakthroughs in round-the-clock multinational virtual yet it travels at Mach 25. Its pressurized cabin area is the size of a five- flight engineers, participate in a session of extravehicular activity systems, logistics transport vehicles and spacecraft for crew (EVA) as maintenance and construction continue on the International Space design and construction took advantage of the latest communications bedroom house but stores three times as much, because all surfaces return and transfer. Station. During the spacewalk, Kotov and Suraev prepared the Mini-Research and design software, forever changing international technical – top, bottom, and sides - are utilized in the weightlessness of space. Module 2 (MRM2), known as Poisk, for future Russian vehicle dockings. collaboration. Quality and attention to detail had to be perfect. Physical “GO for research” Over the next four issues of Ad Astra, we will tell the amazing story of the Fifteen separate cultures, values, and sources of expertise pulled tolerances, for example, could not exceed three one thousandths of an International Space Station. Starting with this overview, we will highlight together to create our largest adventure into space to date. At its peak, inch or risk an air leak. Since the major components could not be fit The International Space Station is, in every sense, now an orbiting the many successes as well as the many challenges of one of NASA’s, no the development effort involved more than 100,000 dedicated people checked first on the ground, there was simply no room for error. laboratory and, as NASA literature puts it, “It’s GO for research.” – mankind’s, ambitious projects. Keep an eye out for the next three across the United States and around the world. The complex assembly The ISS has integrated over 20,000 kg of hardware and software, Boeing is NASA’s prime contractor for the design, development, installments in the series including an in-depth look at how engineers phase spanned about a decade and provided no opportunity to pre- supporting over 200 unique research investigations by more than 1,500 integration, testing delivering, and now sustaining all the U.S.-built and astronauts overcome obstacles 220 miles above Earth with limited assemble or fit-check interfaces on the ground. Despite this, all hardware scientists – all while ISS assembly and construction was still underway. elements of the ISS. The U.S elements include three connecting logistical opportunity, bringing 15 nations together with a common goal, and software has been integrated and activated on-orbit flawlessly. modules, or nodes; a laboratory module; truss segments; four “There are great expectations and initiatives underway for even more as well as the impact of the International Space Station on the future of “Hardware integration has been one of our biggest challenges,” said array modules; three mating adapters; a ; and an unpressurized improved scientific return now that ISS assembly is complete,” added space exploration. Mark Mulqueen, vehicle director for Boeing’s International Space Station logistics carrier. Boeing developed the thermal control system; Bryant. program. “Given the cost and effort involved in launching a piece of life support system; guidance, navigation, and control system; In 2005, the U.S. Congress authorized NASA to establish the American Where did it all start? hardware into space, there simply has been no room for error. This is an data handling systems; power systems; and communications and segments of the station as a National Laboratory, and encouraged area where meticulous requirements planning and thorough coordination tracking systems. Inhabited space stations go back as far as the early 1970s when The NASA to open research opportunities to other federal entities, as well was essential. The fact that these large, complicated pieces have come Soviet Union launched the world’s first space station, Salyut 1, in 1971 - a “Boeing and its heritage firms have had a leading role in every U.S. as private researchers. The full capability of initial ISS resources are together flawlessly on-orbit is a testament to the great teams of engineers decade after launching the first human into space. The United States was crewed spacecraft to date,” added Bryant. “The International Space in place – and the crew complement has grown from two or three working across the globe.” not far behind with the launch of its in 1973.

24 ad Astra Spring 2010 Spring 2010 ad Astra 25 Without the space shuttle to service the space station, how would it survive?

The partnership came together, and – with a sense of determination and innovation not seen in the space program since Apollo 13 – came up with . Further assembly of the station would be put on hold, until the shuttle could once again ferry up the giant parts. Crew would be transported on the much smaller, but reliable, Russian Soyuz. The crew size would be reduced from three to two, to cut down on the need for food, water, and other consumables.

The partnership quite literally saved the International Space Station. But despite its obvious benefits, there were technical challenges that came with internationalization. Engineers were responsible for integrating all the elements, whether U.S. or foreign-made, and getting them ready for flight. The International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-130 crew member on space shuttle Endeavour after the station and shuttle “Here’s the kind of situation we were dealing with,” explained Mulqueen. began their post-undocking relative separation. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 7:54 p.m. (EST) on February 19, 2010. “Because of the nature of the ISS agreements, an Italian aerospace company may have built a NASA element that had to integrate its most exciting phase. In the U.S., the Obama administration just seamlessly with a piece of Russian hardware. This was new territory proposed supporting research on the station through the end of the NASA astronaut John “Danny” Olivas, STS-128 mission specialist, participates in the mission’s third and final session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction for space programs.” decade, five years longer than originally envisioned. The International and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. During the seven-hour, one-minute spacewalk, Olivas and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Space Station can now reach its true potential as a laboratory and Fuglesang (out of frame), mission specialist, deployed the Payload Attachment System (PAS), replaced the Rate Gyro Assembly #2, installed two GPS antennae and But internationalization also made the space station program, well, did some work to prepare for the installation of Node 3 next year. exploration test bed. With six astronauts representing as many more fun. Suddenly, astronauts and engineers were also expected languages, cultures, research priorities, and national ambitions living members to six. Astronauts, previously busy with the assembly phase, “Each of the partners… has a specific and important role to play,” said to be linguists and diplomats. During spacewalks, astronauts and and working together, the story of the International Space Station is will now be able to devote significantly more of their time to research. President Clinton’s science adviser, Dr. Jack Gibbons, at the signing cosmonauts would have to switch seamlessly between English and really just beginning. ceremony at the U.S. State Department in Washington. Canada would Russian as they communicated with mission control in either The ISS laboratories provide unique environments to conduct research. draw on its technical strength – robotics – to “provide critical robotic or Moscow. U.S. astronauts became connoisseurs of freeze-dried Three primary environmental differences open the door for continued capabilities for assembly and operation of the station.” Europe would Russian space fare. Adam Morgan works for The Boeing Company’s Space Exploration research. The absence of gravity, i.e., the “microgravity” environment contribute a pressurized laboratory and cargo craft to re-boost and division in their headquarter office in Houston. Boeing is the prime offers unique conditions that impact fundamental research of biological re-supply the station. Japan, likewise, would contribute an experimental The diplomacy and cross-cultural exchanges may someday prove to contractor to NASA for the ISS. cells, fluids and materials behavior. The vacuum and radiation module and cargo spacecraft. Russia and the U.S. would provide be one of the most significant by-products of the International Space environments differ from our earthly environment. Additionally, the ISS Melissa Mathews writes about science, technology and aerospace infrastructure modules and crew transportation. Station, but today the space station’s raison d’etre continues to be allows remote sensing of 90 percent of the world’s population from a hardcore science and technology. through her communications firm,T he Mathews Group. She is a former relatively low altitude. Research completed on-board the ISS is vitally The agreements – and the strength of the partnership – were put NASA spokesperson and a big fan of the International Space Station. important to improving life here on Earth as well as creating a foundation to the test when, on February 1, 2003, the Nearly a decade after its first residents climbed on board, the She lives in Arlington, Va. to continue our nation’s space exploration mission. disintegrated on re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven International Space Station is nearly complete and ready to enter

Experiments are designed by investigators on the ground, housed on orbit in “racks,” or external pallets, and maintained by ground operators and/or the astronauts in space. Some of the most interesting and critical experiments on space station can’t be contained in racks or test tubes, however. Key experimental subjects are the astronauts themselves, who function as floating guinea pigs (if guinea pigs had MDs, PhDs, and cooler aviator call signs). One of the primary questions the spacefaring community must answer if it is to venture beyond low Earth orbit is how exploration will affect the human body. like zero gravity, which wreak havoc on muscles and bones, and radiation have to be understood and conquered before NASA and its partners plan more ambitious missions. International Space Station astronauts, then, poke and prod themselves to test specific countermeasures – such as a load- bearing exercise – and send the data back to researchers on the ground.

Backdropped by Earth’s horizon and the blackness of space, the unpiloted Building a partnership Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) approaches the International Space Sta- tion. Once the HTV was in range, NASA astronaut , Canadian Space The only thing more complex than the engineering that went into building Agency astronaut Thirsk and European Space Agency astronaut , all flight engineers, used the station’s robotic arm to the International Space Station is the diplomacy behind it. The five grab the cargo craft and attach it to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony node. primary space agencies representing 15 countries signed agreements to build and operate the space station on January 29, 1998, along with astronauts and grounding the shuttle program for two and a half years. several bilateral agreements between individual agencies. Together, the On orbit, two astronauts and a cosmonaut aboard the space station Astronaut Nicole Stott, Expedition 20 flight engineer, participates in the STS-128 mission’s first session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and agreements represented an intricate web of contributions and barters grieved for their colleagues, as their own mission hung in the balance. maintenance continue on the International Space Station. During the six-hour, 35-minute spacewalk, Stott and astronaut John “Danny” Olivas (out of frame), that built the structure flying in space today. mission specialist, removed an empty ammonia tank from the station’s truss and temporarily stowed it on the station’s robotic arm.

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